What is the difference between evolution and a revolution? A revolution suggests that one sudden event sparks a whole movement and permanently changes the way we look at things; it's impact is lasting and widespread. Evolution tends to describe a slower process, a systematic and methodical growth and betterment over a extended period of time. Herb Simon questions the notion of revolution, as it is so often applied to invention. The paradigm of the steam engine illustrates his point; the steam engine was not a spontaneous and simultaneous invention of all the components necessary to assemble a steam engine, but rather a slow accumulation of innovations that unknowingly would lead to the manifestation the steam engine. Even after many first generation steam engines were conceived in the 1700's, it still took over a century to actually apply this technology to anything that could begin to approach something that would inevitably forever change the way the world travels.
"In order for the steam engine to produce genuinely revolutionary change, there had to be a whole series of subsequent inventions, none of which were- or could have been- contemplated by its originators, and these took still another generation, reaching well into the 19th century. The steam engine was adapted for use in transportation, giving us the steamboat and the steam locomotive."
In order to invent, we must not always be so worried about taking a huge leap into the unknown; rather, focusing on taking a few small steps, but just in a slightly different direction would prove just as innovative and with a greater chance of discovery.
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